Machine for driving screws into wood



(No Model.) 5-Sheets-Sheet 1.

C. L. BRIGGS. MACHINE FOR DRIVING SGREWS INTO WOOD.

No. 529,701, v Patented Nov. 27, 1894.

1? 30 85 a 0 6 I'll INVENTOIR CZarZesZ. Brgys 5 Shets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

0. L. BRIGGS. MACHINE FOR DRIVING SCREWS INTO WOOD. I No. 529,701.Patented Nov, 27, 1894.

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, INVENTOR,

ATTORNEY m: "dams nrrzs 00.. mo-rourna. WAS M010" 0 Q Czar/eel, 5r? 3 BY(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

. G.L.BRIGGS. I MACHINE FOR DRIVING SUREWS INTO WOOD.

No 529,701. I Patented Nov! 27,1894

INVENTOR CZ/es 34 16 m: uonms PETERS 00.. moruu'ma, WASHINGTON m c.

(No Model.) 5 SheetsSheet 4.

O.L.BRIGGS. MACHINE FOR DRIVING SCREWS INTO WOOD. N0.'5Z9,701. PatentedNov. 2'7, 1894..

WITNESSES:

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5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

(No Modelfl I .7

. G. L. BRIGGS. MACHINE FOR DRIVING SCREWS INTO WOOD. No. 529,701..Patented No v. 2'7, 1894.

m: Nonms virus 20.. momurwa" WASHINGTON n c To whom it may concern.-

citizen of the United States, residing at Norton, in the county ofBristol and State of Mas useful Improvements in Machines for DrivingScrews into Wood; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable tainsto make and use the same.

ful improvementsin machines for driving screws into wood, such screwsbeing autoto the driving devices, and has for its object to accomplishthe end aimed at by the use of simple and positive means, such as willbe hereinafter set forthand then'specifically is a front elevation of myimproved machine. Fig. 2, a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3, a plan View;Fig. 4, a sectional elevation at the line a:w of Fig. 3. Figs. and 6 aredetail plan views of the hopper and automatic cut-01f parts in theseveral figures of the drawings.

cured to its face guides 2 within which a gate 3 is adapted toreciprocate freely.

the other within which is guided and journaled the driving rod 5 to theupper end of which is secured a plain horizontal disk 6. At the top ofthe gate, on opposite .sides thereof and in the same horizontal plane,are boxes 7 within which is journaled the shaft 8'.

10 which latter is journaled within any suit- UNITED" STATES PATENT-QFFICE.

I CHARLES L; BRIGGS, OF NORTOR MASSAOHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO ISAAC J.

BOOTHE, or BIRMINGHAM, CONNECTICUT.

MACHINE FOR DRIVING SCREWS INTO WOOD.

SIIEIECIIEIGIX'1I01\T forming part of Letters Patent No. 529,701, datedNovember 27, 1894.

Application filed July 17 1893. I

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. BRIGGS, a

sachusetts, have invented certain new and others skilled in the art towhich it apper- My invention relates to certain new and usematicallyselected and delivered one by one designated by the claims.

In the accompanying drawingsFigure l mechanisms, showing respectivelythe posi- Similar numbers of'reference denote like 1 is the frame of mymachine having se- 4 are boxes secured to this gate one above 9 is thepower pulley mounted on a shaft Serial No. 480,719. (No model.)

able bearings 11 secured to the frame 1, which pulley is connected by abelt 12 to a pulley 13 on the shaft 8, whereby revolution may beimparted to the latter. and extending longitudinally thereof is 'achannel 14, and on the shaft is a wheel 15 carrying a key 16 whichlatter extends with-in the channel, whereby said wheel is rigid withthis shaft as to rotation, and at the same time is capable ofa freesliding movement thereon. Extending laterally from this wheel is a hub17 having therein the annular groove 18.

19is arod capable of a free longitudinal sliding movement withinsupporting brackets 20 which extend upward from the boxes 7, and 21- isa shoe which depends from said rod within the groove 18. The rod 19 isprovided with a handle 22 for readily shifting such rod 'to and fro andthereby imparting a corresponding shifting movement to the wheel 15,

and a set screw 23 is provided through one of the brackets 20 for fixingthe rod in any desired adjustment. Secured to the wheel 15 is a disk 24of leather or other suitable material which normally is in contact withthe upper face of the disk 6, whereby, when the shaft 8 is revolved,rotary movement will be imparted to the vertical driving rod 5 by thefrictional contact of the disk 24 withthedisk 6. By shifting this diskto a point more or less distant from the axial center of the disk 6, thespeed of the driving rod 5 may be in creased or diminished, and this isa very desirable feature since it enables the operator to regulate thedriving of the screws in ac cordance with the requirement of theoccaslon.

- At the lower end of the driving rod 5 and around the same is a yeke 25which is sustained in position by a collar 26 rigid on said rod. Thisyoke has a free verticalsliding movement on the rod, but has noconnectionwith the latter which interferes with'the free and independentrevolution of the same. At the bottom of the yoke is a head 27 which hasa central passage 28 for the driving rod 5, and

leading into this passage at the rear thereof is a chute 29 whichextends upwardly to the screw delivering devices hereinafter to beexplained. Within the sides of the yoke are pivoted at 30 the jaws 31the ends whereof Within the shaft 8 extend downward and close againsteach other at a point immediately below the head 27. In the extreme endsof these jaws and in their meeting edges are formed complementaryrecesses 32, which, when the jaws are closed, present a circular openingthrough which the shanks of the screws may drop, and these recesses leadupwardly into beveled portions 33 on the inside of the jaws, whereby theunder side of the screw heads may be properly supported in position fordriving. l

34 are springs secured to the yoke by screws 35 and bearing against theoutside faces of the jaws whereby the movements of the latter arerendered resilient.

36 is a bar pivoted at 37 to the rear of the frame and loosely connectedat 38 to a plate 39 which extends upward from the gate 3.

40 is a coil spring whose ends are connected respectively to the rear ofthe bar 36 and to the frame 1, whereby the forward end of said bar, andconsequently the gate 3, are returned to their normal or elevatedposition.

In the operation of the parts heretofore described, the bar 36 isdepressed by the operator thereby carrying the screw driver and thescrew clamping devices downward, and causing the driver to engage withthe screw to drive the same within any suitable wooden object, thelatter having been previously brought into position beneath the screw.As the driver forces the screw within the wood, the jaws 31 will distendto permit of the passage of the head of the screw, as shown at Fig. 9,and when the head of the screw is flush with the object into which it isdriven, the operator releases the bar 36, thereby causing the driver andthe screw clamping devices carried thereby to be returned to normal orelevated position.

Having thus described the operation of the means whereby the screws,when properly delivered, are carried into position and driven, I willnow describe the devices whereby such screws are automatically selectedand delivered one by one to the driving devices.

41 are brackets secured to the frame of the machine and 42 is a crossblock secured to the free ends of such brackets.

43 is an inclined slide plate secured on the cross block 42 and having aguide slot 44 the outer end whereof leads into a chute 45 which latteris rigid with such plate and telescopes within the chute 29. The objectof this telescoping of the chutes is to provide an unbroken passage forthe screws during the vertical movements of the gate, and also to holdthe yoke 25 as against any turning or axial movement around the rod 5.

46 are cars secured to the cross block 42, between which cars is pivotedthe hopper 47, and 48 is a rod whose ends are loosely connected to thebar 36 and the hopper, whereby when such bar is reciprocated the hopperwill be swung up and down on its pivotal points. Within the bottom ofthe hopper is a slot 49 which extends forward and registers with theguide slot 44, the end wall of the hopper being cut away as shown at 50in order to permit the passage of the heads of the screws, as will bepresently explained. hen the hopper has been swung upward to its fullelevation by the action of the bars 36, the bottom of the hopper willthereby be brought into the same inclined plane with the side plate 43,and since the slots in these parts are in alignment,acontinuous passageforthe screws will thereby be afforded from the hopper down through thechutes 45, 29. Within the hopper is a V shaped partition 51 the sideswhereof inclose the space within which the screws are placed in mass,while the end or angle part of this partition registers with the slot 49in the hopper and is slightly elevated to allow the screws to passbeneath the same as they travel along the slot. The object of thispartition is to cause the screws to be selected one by one at the angleof such partition and allow them to drop into the slot 49. Of coursethis partition is not an actual necessity, but it greatly facilitatesthe proper assembly of the screws within the slot 49, since the greatbody of such screws in the hopper is thereby prevented from clogging thefew screws which are at the angle part of the partition.

From the foregoing description it will be readily understood that thereciprocations of the bar 36 will efiect the agitation of the screwswithin the hopper for the purpose of i enabling them to drop through theslot 49 in proper position for delivery down through I the chutes.

I In order that the screws may be delivered one at a time to the screwdriving devices, so I as to not interfere with each other or clog thepassage 28 in the head of the yoke, I have provided automaticallycontrolled devices for cutting out the screws and for delivering themone at a time down the chutes in synchronism with the reciprocatingmovement of the gate, which devices I will now describe.

52 is a lever pivoted at 53 to the underside of the plate 43, and 54 isa link whose ends are loosely connected to the hopper and to the outerend of said lever, whereby when the hopper is swung up and down, a toand fro swinging movement will thereby be imparted to the lover. Theinner end of this lever terminates in two curved prongs 55, 56, whichapproach each other, as shown particularly by dotted lines in Figs. 5and 6. The prong 55 is slightly in advance of the prong 56, the distancebetween the two being about equal to the diameter of the shank of one ofthe screws to be fed, and these prongsalternately cross the mouth of theslot 44 during the to and fro movements of the lever 52. hen the hopperis swung to its elevated po sition the prong 56 will thereby be extendedimmediately in front of the screws in the slot 44, thus cutting off thesupplylof such screws to the chute during theraising of the driving red,but on the depression of the driver and the consequent dropping of thehopper, the prong will be carried immediately behind a screw which hadpreviously rested against the prong 56, thus allowing such screw to dropwithin the chute. The timing of the action of these prongsis suchthat'the driver will have descended so as to block the lower mouth ofthe chute 29 by the time the screw reaches that point, so that when thedriving rod is elevated said screw will drop within the passage 28 intothe proper position for driving. It will thus be seen that the chute isalways free from screws during the elevation of the driving devices anduntil that time when the descent of the driver has blocked the passageinto the head 27. I have employed frictional devices, such as the "disk6 and the Wheel 15 having secured thereto the disk 24 of leather, forrevolving the driving rod, in order that when the screw has beenproperly driven the disk 24 will simply slip over the disk 6 withoutrevolving the same, but I do not wish to be limited to the employment offrictional devices in this connection as there are very many other waysof revolving this rod all within the scope of ordinary mechanicalknowledge and skill. For instance, ordinary beveled gears substituted inplace of the disks 6, 24, would answer the purpose of my invention inthis respect, for it is a very simple matter for the operator todetermine when the screw has been properly driven andto then release thebar 36. Moreover the speed of the driver may readily be changed by theuse of ordinary speed pulleys on the shafts 8, 10. Also any suitabledevice, controlled by the bar 36, may be employed for the purpose ofagitating the mass of screws within the hopper, or, in fact,'suchagitating devices may be entirely dispensed with, since the occasionalstirring or shaking of the screws in the hopper by the hand of theoperator will accomplish the object aimed at in this connection.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The screw driving rod and means for rotating the same, the yokeconnected to the rod,

the jaws pivoted to the yoke and extending near to the axial line of therod, and the guiding chute terminating in proximity to the jaws, allcombined and relatively arranged substantially as described.

2. The vertically movable gate and the rotatable screw-driving rodcarried thereby, the screw holding jaws, and the guiding chute, having aterminal section connected to said gate, a hopper, and a telescopicchute section leading from the hopper to the chute section connected tothegate, all combined substantially as described.

3. The vertically movable gate, the power driven screw driver carriedthereby, the yoke surrounding and moving with said screw driver, and thetelescopic chute connected to a hopper and to said yoke, all combinedsubstantially as described.

4. The combination of the rotatory and vertically reciprocatory drivingrod, the yoke loosely supported around the same and confined as toindependent vertical movements between prescribed limits, the head atthe lower end of said yoke and having a central passage, theresilientclamping jaws pivoted to said yoke and meeting at their lowerends immediately beneath said head, the chute rigid with said head andleading into said passage, and screw delivery devices having dependingtherefrom a chute which telescopes within the first mentioned chute,whereby a continuous passage for the screws is afforded during thevertical movements of the driving rod and the parts'carried thereby, andalso all axial movement of the yoke prevented, substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES L. BRIGGS. Witnesses:

FRA NK' M. COPELAND, WM. A. COPELAND.

